forces of social change

• Forces of Social Change

  Catalysts that drive social change
• Catalysts of social change

  • All people must adapt to social change
  • Change varies by society
  • Political, economic, cultural and religious institutions influence the speed and direction of change
• Catalysts of social change

  • Leadership
  • Social Elites ("modernizing elites")
  • A Population Ready for Change
• Charismatic leader


  A leader that people will follow can promote change - e.g. Mandela, Trudeau, Hitler
• Social Elites


  Those with social, economic or spiritual power can promote change. Celebrities, business owners or otherwise socially powerful, can motivate people to action.
• A Population Ready for Change

  • Undesirable conditions, such as economic depression, social discontent, oppression, injustice or inequality
  • Presented with new ideas and learning (exogenous / endogenous)
  • Education
  • Embracing new technologies / discoveries
• Impediments to social change

  • Traditional Cultural Values
  • Religious beliefs maintain norms and values
  • Little Cultural Interaction
  • Those in Power Maintaining the Status Quo
  • Little Education/Innovation/Emerging Technologies
• Traditional Cultural Values


  Ideals and values passed from generation to generation in the home, school and society at large
• Little Cultural Interaction


  Low exposure to other cultures, practices and ideals. Reduces exogenous influences.
• Those in Power Maintaining the Status Quo

  Workers staying employed at low wages/power, leaders staying in power, religious leaders as intermediaries between God and man. "The rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer".
• Little Education/Innovation/Emerging Technologies


  Limited learning and exposure to practices and ideals. Looking at things the same way. "In the box thinking".
• The Expense of Change

  Economic change and investment required. Social change may require new institutions, systems and order. A fundamental shift in ideologies may be hard to accept. Absence of research does not promote change. It's often easier to do nothing.
• Anomie


  To be left behind in the wake of social change
• Ease of communicating by digital means and accessing services online

  • Teens vs. the Elderly
  • Literate vs. illiterate
• Conformity


  To follow or adhere to social norms
• Subjective validity


  Believing your ideas/attitudes are "right" based on your judgment and similarity to the ideas/attitudes of others
• Normative influence


  The social pressure/influence to follow norms
• Influences in conformity


  • Parents
  • Friends
  • School
  • Law
  • Behaviours of other people
• Deviance


  To ignore or go against social norms
• Deviant behaviour


  • Influences society and can reinforce or change norms
  • Challenges traditional norms/values
  • Can be constructive or destructive
• Influences in deviance


  • Friends
  • Education
  • Behaviours of other people
  • Other cultures/ideas
  • Differing perspectives
• Social exclusion or alienation


  Creates a social group all its own
• Social exclusion or alienation

  • Workers (proletariat) and the factory owners (bourgeoisie)
  • Alienated teens falling into negative/self-destructive behaviours
  • Alienated teens/young adults revolting in Egypt due to high youth unemployment rates
• Conformity


  Generally helps to discourage social change
• Japanese Proverb: 'The nail that sticks out gets hammered down'
• Asch's conformity experiment
• Seeing a person punished for a deviant act reinforces what a society sees as acceptable or unacceptable behaviour
• Social change


  • Speed (fast or slow)
  • Direction (towards certain values or norms)
  • Impact (either positive or negative)
• A society must be ready for change for it to occur (at any significant speed)
• Conditions promoting change


  • Political leadership
  • Leadership of social elites
  • Undesirable social conditions
  • Education
  • Exposure to new ideas / technologies
• Factors that can slow social change

  • Cultural traditions and values
  • Religious values and beliefs
  • Little interaction with other cultures
  • Those in power maintaining the status quo
  • Few technological advances, little education or innovation
  • A fear of the social and economic costs (electric cars vs. oil industry)
• Anomie (Emile Durkheim)


  Being socially left behind in the wake of change
• Anomie


  • A king in a newly communist society, or a factory worker who has just been replaced by machines
• Conformity


  To adhere to or follow a set of rules/values/norms in society
• Pressure to conform from

  • Parents
  • Friends
  • School
  • Television
• Deviance


  Can lead to exclusion from society
• Exclusion or alienation


  Can lead to action or acceptance
• Conformity


  Reduces social change
• Deviance


  Can lead to a change in norms or reinforce them